Thomas Chisholm Anstey

Thomas Chisholm Anstey (1816 – 12 August 1873) was an English lawyer and one of the first Catholic parliamentarians in the nineteenth century. He served as Attorney General of Hong Kong for 4 years. He also wrote pamphlets on legal and political topics, particularly those relevant to Roman Catholics. Early life He was the second son of Thomas Anstey (1777–1851) and his wife Mary Turnbull, born in Kentish Town, London. In 1823, his father, a lawyer who had gone into commerce, moved to Tasmania, and he followed in 1827 with his elder brother George Alexander (1814–1895). In his early education he studied Hebrew with the minister James Garrett. Anstey returned to England, intending to take up law, and was educated at school in Wellington, Somerset and at University College London. He came under the influence of the Tractarians, and also entered the Middle Temple, being called to the bar in 1839. He had become a Catholic convert, married that year, and moved with his wife to Hobart, Tasmania. He became a Catholic leader there, and achieved prominence for a court appearance (R. v. Espie, 1840). But he lost a position as commissioner of insolvent estates after a few months.